Good School to Learn CNC

I have been wanting to learn how to use cnc machines and im new to this. i want to know if anyone knows of a good school to attend in the Orlando, FL? I basically want to be able to run cnc mills and cnc stations. any help would be appreciated. thank you.

Too bad you are in Florida. Nice place to visit, but progressive things like education don't make it in a state with a high percentage of conservative retired folks.

Where I live (Indiana), people are conservative but we still have Vincennes University and Ivy Tech. They have great programs for people who want to be machinists. Other states are probably even better.

Is moving out of your cultural backwater an option? You could always move back after you got your training. Then you could be the big fish in a small pond!

You may want to buy a good book on CNC programing, I recommend Peter Smid CNC Programing Handbook it's a bit slow getting started but it's a great primer.

Knowing something about machining in general will help you immensely, Machine Tool Practices by Kibbe, Meyer, Neely, and White is a great book for starters, look for an older edition or at a library or used book store it will save you some money.

There are also some free on line courses I am currently taking this one Sandvik Coronant's on line course on metal cutting a bit tedious to read but informative.

There currently is a push to certify and standardize Machining Technology course through out the country if you do decide to go the academic route then find a school that is certified thy will cover things like heat treating as part of metallurgy, and have a good survey of Cad/Cam program and other drafting programs.

There currently is a push to certify and standardize Machining Technology course through out the country if you do decide to go the academic route then find a school that is certified..

Unfortunately, the push is coming from within academia, not industry. And it has little to do with content and even less to do with quality. It is more about cash-strapped schools looking toward marketing gimmicks and a Happy Meal approach to education.

There are some very good programs out there. Mid-FL tech may be one of them. Just don't take the admissions and recruiting team's word for it.

Talk to graduates. Find out how many can even sharpen a drill. Talk to employers. Ask if they would hire graduates from a particular school. Increasingly, the answer in both cases is no.

Unfortunately, the push is coming from within academia, not industry. And it has little to do with content and even less to do with quality. It is more about cash-strapped schools looking toward marketing gimmicks and a Happy Meal approach to education.

There are some very good programs out there. Mid-FL tech may be one of them. Just don't take the admissions and recruiting team's word for it.

Talk to graduates. Find out how many can even sharpen a drill. Talk to employers. Ask if they would hire graduates from a particular school. Increasingly, the answer in both cases is no.

I agree there are very good programs out there, I guess I must be in one of them, everyone that graduated had a job waiting.

Not sure about how things are in Georgia and I am sure you must be more knowledgeable than me on such things here it's Honda, PPG, Sperry and I am sure others to that are pushing for the programs to be certified.

I haven't been up there in a few years, but Daytona Beach Community College had a really nice machining program. I believe that they were offering a 2 year program. They had the partnership with Haas going so they had all new machines in there, a classroom full of just control panels that you could learn on and they were teaching Mastercam. Also they even had a wire EDM to learn.

I know it's a bit of a drive but it was a nice place and the teacher was pretty good there, I never attended there but heard from others that he was a good guy.

There was a program here in Brevard, but it has gone down the tubes. Check out Valencia or whatever the local community college is over there.

Unfortunately, the push is coming from within academia, not industry. And it has little to do with content and even less to do with quality. It is more about cash-strapped schools looking toward marketing gimmicks and a Happy Meal approach to education.

There are some very good programs out there. Mid-FL tech may be one of them. Just don't take the admissions and recruiting team's word for it.

Talk to graduates. Find out how many can even sharpen a drill. Talk to employers. Ask if they would hire graduates from a particular school. Increasingly, the answer in both cases is no.

I don't entirely agree with this. Certainly, schools are broke and looking for ways to increase enrollments. But in my area at least, there is a preponderance of shops seeking degreed machinists versus experienced machinists and some prefer certain schools over others. Some schools get a bad reputation because if you pay them enough and show up, they'll give you a degree. Employers know this and realize that your degree doesn't mean you know what you're doing. Then again, if you go to a school like mine, local employers recognize it as a school that produces quality machinists, not button pushers.

In Minnesota here, the state heavily invests in colleges including the 2 year tech school I go to. We have a truly excellent machining program, starting from fundamentals, theory and manual machining(including drill sharpening on a bench grinder ) all the way up to CNC programming, fixturing, lean, SPC, shop management, etc. I'll be $20k in debt when I'm done, but I haven't even graduated yet and I already have an excellent full time job.

I agree with the general sentiment about Florida though. Getting a really good machining education there will probably be difficult or expensive. Come august, my degree will cost me about $18k. For that much money, I could have picked up a small Kitamura VMC with enough money left over for copious amounts of used/cheap tooling, stock and books. If moving near a good tech school isn't an option, this might be. I'll tell you beforehand though. No amount of books can replace hands-on experience.

An operator job("button pusher") will expose you to some really neat fixturing ideas, machining and inspection methodology, CNC machine operation fundamentals, etc. You can get theory from a book, but theory doesn't make chips; experience does.

We have a Precision Machining and CNC Automation program here at SCTI - Sarasota, Fl. 11 months long. 2nd year of this program in all new facility with all new machines. We are NIMS accredidated program - you can earn credentials in each module. We are also a authorized Haas Technical education center. We also teach Fanuc control as well. We have financial aid and also VA benefits.

We teach manual and CNC - all students learn to program G code, learn setup old school and with probes,

CNC Mill - setup single or multiple vices, cut soft jaws or use hard jaws and parralels , import program, edit,
set up tools, toolsetter or old school gage block, set up work offsets, probe or edge finder or indicator.

CNC lathe - bore jaws or switch to collets - bar feed - import good program setup , edit, and run off plus inspect. set up tools old school or with toolsetter.

In addition we also run through the basics of manual machining. This isn't the old 2 yr type program where we make sine bars and precision vices as projects but we cover the basics. Most shops now use manual machines as secondary equipment but its good to have somene who understands and can "feel" how things are cut and held. Its obvious that anyone who has 2-4 years of manual experience would be farther ahead but I don't think its essential. I was successful when I did a 3 month course in 1986 and hit the jobshops right after. I have worked for almost 30 years in the industry all the way up to lead programmer. My last job was with biggest defense contractor in the US in Orlando running large Mazak 5 axis mill - turns.

Once a shop knows you have basic knowledge and are suited for a machine shop life they can fill teach you what they want you to know. Most older programs teach only manual old school but companies want people who won't wreck the bosses expensive CNC machines.

We may be offering advanced programs and Mastercam only in the evenings soon.

I have been wanting to learn how to use cnc machines and im new to this. i want to know if anyone knows of a good school to attend in the Orlando, FL? I basically want to be able to run cnc mills and cnc stations. any help would be appreciated. thank you.

Interesting, having multipe years of so-called higher education, I have come to the conclusion that schooling offers an introduction, in most cases a very limited introduction. Learn CNC ? or have an introduction ?, two very different things. If you go to a community college with the mind set that the courses are an introduction you will be far better off, better yet get a basic lathe, learn the basics, read, take a course or two, some on line help: Master Task was good for me. Keep in mind that 90% or more will fade from your memory unless you are one of the rare Jeoporady Champs, (I am for sure not). Its all good, you will be able to kick some tires and once you get the introduction, what you do with it and learn from there makes the difference as most of us have found out. CNC is a complex, multi-field with lots of sub fields, again all helps but chart your own path and certainly do not think that taking one or two classes or reading one book will make you fluent.

I don't think learning CNC is that difficult you can learn to draw in Cad and create tool paths in CAM by reading the manuals. Learning to be a machinist is a trade that needs to be learned over time with good instruction. To me learning CNC does you no good if you don't know the trade and understand machining principles. I have learned most of what I need to run my 2 CNC machines but coming from the hobby side of this trade I lack in some of the principles of being a good machinist. I know how to make the machines move and cut that is the easiest part knowing how to hold things and machine strategies takes experience. The more I learn the more I know how much I have left to learn.

I have been wanting to learn how to use cnc machines and im new to this. i want to know if anyone knows of a good school to attend in the Orlando, FL? I basically want to be able to run cnc mills and cnc stations. any help would be appreciated. thank you.